Secrets and Lies
by pinkandpurplepony
Summary: Draco and Hermione are brought together during mysterious circumstances during their third year at Hogwarts. But how long will their unity last? Tags: Dramione Draco Malfoy Hermione Harry Potter Hogwarts
1. Chapter 1: Detention

Chapter One: Detention

The bushy haired brunette sat staring at her parchment. Usually she would have written at least a foot of writing in the fifteen minutes she had been sat in the cold dungeon classroom. But Hermione had only written the title: _Reasons Why I Should Never Ever Skip Potions Again, _and was struggling to concentrate on her detention assignment.

She had drifted off into her thoughts. _I have never missed a lesson before. I've never even been late to a class before in my life! How on earth did I manage to fall asleep in the library?_ But Hermione already knew the answer to that one. Overwork.

Ever since the beginning of the year, she had been taking every subject available to her, thanks to Professor McGonagall who had managed to get the Ministry of Magic to lend her a time turner. But taking more than twice as many subjects as the rest of the third years at Hogwarts had left her with twice as much homework, and half as much time in which to do it.

"Granger?" came a low deliberate voice from behind her that made Hermione drop her quill, causing a large black ink blot to fall onto the page. "Why have you not begun with your task?" Snape lowered his head to her height, his hooked nose just inches away from her ear. "As I recall, you are here to make up the time you missed out on when you didn't bother turning up to my class yesterday."

"I-I fell asleep sir!" She protested, "I was trying to catch up with my homework when I–"

"Don't make excuses you insolent girl! Ten points from Gryffindor!"

"But sir –!"

"Twenty points from Gryffindor! I suggest you shut up and get on with your essay or I shall make it fifty."

Hermione narrowed her eyes and scowled at her greasy-haired potions professor, but thought better than to protest further. She lowered her head and took up her quill. She tore off the ink stained part of the parchment and underlined her title. Just as she was about to begin with the essay, there came an echoing knock on the classroom door.

The door creaked slowly open to reveal a tall, stern looking witch and a white blond boy with cold green eyes and a pale, pointed face. Hermione new that boy all too well, and she couldn't stand him. Draco Malfoy had become a sworn enemy of Harry, Ron and Hermione over the past two years and the hatred between them was thick in the air.

"Minerva, how can I help you?" asked Professor Snape in a cynical voice.

Hermione stared at her page, pretending that she was writing, and not in fact listening in on the two teacher's conversation.

"I believe that Mr. Malfoy here is in your house?" asked Professor McGonagall sternly. Snape nodded slowly with a curious look on his face. "Then I shall leave you to deal with him."

"What exactly has Mr. Malfoy done to deserve 'dealing with'?"

"He was caught sneaking into the kitchens a few moments ago," Professor McGonagall stated, "I have already taken twenty points from Slytherin, but I think he need a more severe punishment in order for him to learn his lesson."

"And what do you expect me to do about this?" asked Snape in a rather bored tone.

"I suggest you keep him here in detention," Snape looked as though he was about to protest to this so she added: "I see no problem with this, seeing as you already have Miss Granger here. It would be no extra burden to you, would it?"

Hermione could tell from Snape's face that he would find it an extreme burden to have to punish his favourite student, but he could not disagree with Professor McGonagall, so he simply raised his arched black eyebrows and shook his head in a quick, restrained movement.

"Thank you Severus," replied McGonagall, and she turned in a swift movement and left the room.

Draco glowered after her and turned to Snape, "You aren't really going to keep me here all evening are you?" But when Snape did not answer, he simply gawped at him in a disbelieving way and then scowled and took a seat along the row from Hermione.

The pair worked on their tedious essays for almost half and hour before there was another knock at the door. In walked their Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Remus Lupin. Snape looked up from his desk and looked at the scruffy looking man and the back of the room.

"Can I help you?" he asked in a falsely quizzical voice.

"I'm here to collect that potion you brewed for me," Lupin replied, narrowing his dark eyes at the hook-nosed potions teacher.

"Ah, yes," exclaimed Snape in the false voice, "I had almost forgotten." He stood up and walked over to his supply cupboard. Lupin followed and pulled the door shut behind him.

Hermione frowned after them in a thoughtful way. _What could that be about?_ she wondered.

"What did you do to get here Granger?" asked Malfoy in a mocking voice.

"What is it to you?" she replied narrowing her deep brown eyes.

"Just wondered how a goody-goody like you managed to get herself into detention." He shrugged.

"I fell asleep in the library and missed potions yesterday." Hermione answered, giving in to his enquiry.

"Oh, that's where you were."

"What?" she asked confused. "Why would you even notice I was gone?"

"Oh, Potter and Weasley kept muttering about where you could be. They ended up getting at least thirty points taken from Gryffindor for it. It was rather amusing actually."

Hermione wanted to turn and punch Malfoy right in his smug little face, but managed to overcome her urge. She was just about to reply with a witty remark when she heard hushed voices coming from the ingredient storeroom. The door was slightly ajar.

"_You were supposed to brew me another batch Severus. I really need it; you know what happens when I don't get it!"_

"_Well, I have had other things to think about you know. What with all these detentions I've had to set lately."_

Hermione glanced over at Malfoy to see if he had heard what she had.

"What do you think –?" she began.

"Shh!" he whispered, leaning forward so he could hear them better.

"_If you keep letting me down like this then I may have to be forced to resign my post here," _whispered Lupin.

"_Oh, well we wouldn't want that now would we?"_

"_Severus, please! I can't risk it around these kids." _He nodded towards the door and for a second Hermione could have sworn their eyes met.

The next thing she new, Lupin had stormed out of the storeroom and left the dungeon. Snape appeared a second later and barked at Hermione to get on with her essay or he'd take fifty points from Gryffindor.

Curious but not willing to lose more points from their houses, both Draco and Hermione bowed their heads and continued scribbling away. Hermione had been wondering what was going on with Professor Lupin for weeks, and couldn't help letting her thoughts drift from the essay as they sat in tedious silence.

Forty-five more minutes passed away without a sound. The silence hung heavy in the room and neither one of the third years dared break it. As the clock hanging on the east wall stuck seven with clanging chimes, Snape stood and marched to the door, his black robes swishing behind him.

"You may leave if you are done," he snarled, "Place your essays on my desk on your way out." He turned and with a rustle of robes, he was gone.

Before he was out of sight, Hermione could have sworn she saw his hand flinch toward his pocket where she could see the unmistakable bulge of a potion bottle. Maybe Snape was going to help Lupin out after all.

Draco stood up suddenly, making Hermione jump with the loud scraping of his stool on the stone floor. He carried his four-inch essay over to the potions master's desk, tossed it absent-mindedly down and left the room. Hermione finished her sentence and stood up. She placed her three-foot essay neatly on top of Draco's, picked up her satchel and followed him out. But when she got out into the corridor, he was nowhere to be seen. She dismissed this absurdity and began to climb the stairs to the entrance hall, eager to tell her best friends of the conversation she had witnessed.

- 3 -


	2. Chapter 2: Telling Tales

Chapter Two: Telling Tales

Draco Malfoy was sat on an emerald armchair in front of a roaring fire. Lounged on a marching couch were his two senseless friends, Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle. The two useless oafs sat stuffing their faces with food smuggled from dinner.

As much as he wanted to, Draco couldn't tell them what he had overheard in his detention. He knew they would be useless in helping him figure out what was going on, especially with the distraction of a napkin stuffed with roast beef and potatoes. He stood up in silence, bid the two insatiable lummoxes goodnight, and strode across the room to the door to the boy's dormitories.

But he did not go to bed. Instead, Draco's curiosity got the better of him, and he had to know what was going on. He lay staring at the dusty hangings around his bed, recalling what the two professors had said.

"_You know what happens when I don't get it!"_

What could Lupin have being referring to? Could it be an illegal or frowned upon potion? Maybe Lupin had an addiction…

"_I can't risk it around these kids."_

Was there something wrong with Lupin? And why was Snape acting so… strange?

It was useless. Draco thought and thought, but he just couldn't work it out. He needed more information.

He rolled onto his side in despair. He tried to forget what he had heard, but his curiosity was too strong. He had to know what was going on.

That's when he thought of it. It was simple really. He would have to go snooping around.

Hermione sat back in the tattered armchair and looked over at her best friends' disbelieving faces. She had just recalled the things she had heard mere moments ago. She had interrupted a rather violent game of exploding snap, but felt that this matter was a bit more important than a wizard game that she still couldn't understand.

"Wait, so let me get this straight, Lupin was asking Snape for help?" asked Harry, sounding confused. He set his cards down on the rickety wooden table that they were sat around.

"Well, he had come to collect a potion. It sounded really urgent," Hermione replied, "I've no idea what it was for, but it sounded really important to him, like it was a matter of life and death."

"Why didn't he just give it to him then?" asked Ron, sounding doubly confused, "If it really was that important then why would he forget?"

"I don't know Ronald, maybe I should have asked him," replied Hermione getting irritated. "I mean it's Snape we're talking about, he could have any number of reasons."

Ron looked offended and slouched in his seat, folding his arms tightly across his chest.

"Look, I'm sorry, I'm just really tired right now," she said yawning. "I think I'll go to bed now so I can get up early and finish my Ancient Runes homework."

Hermione stood and picked up her stack of books and papers. She turned, said goodnight and headed up the stairs to the girl's dormitories.

"She's always tired lately," stated Ron, staring after her. "And she wasn't even in Ancient Runes the other day; she was in Care of Magical Creatures with us."

He turned and frowned at Harry, looking bemused. Harry just shrugged and began dealing out his exploding snap cards for a rematch.


End file.
